Sōfuku-ji Audio Guide

Sōfuku-ji Temple: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Soufukuji Temple

   Welcome to Soufukuji Temple, known in Japanese as 崇福寺, on the hillside in Nagasaki. If you have seen a few Japanese temples, you may sense that something here is different. The reason is simple. This is a Chinese temple on Japanese soil, and its story begins with people who crossed the sea. Soufukuji Temple is an Obaku Zen temple, built in 1629 by the Chinese monk Chaoran. It was founded as the family temple of the Chinese from Fuzhou, in Fujian Province, who had settled in Nagasaki. Two of its buildings have since been designated national treasures. It is also one of four Chinese temples in Nagasaki, together with Kofukuji, Fukusaiji and Shofukuji. Over the next few minutes we will look at the gates that sailed in from China, the great Buddha Hall, and the sea goddess honored here. As you walk uphill, keep your eyes on the colors and the carved details, because they tell you where this place comes from.

2. 02

   Soufukuji Temple: A Temple for Travelers from Fuzhou

   Soufukuji Temple belongs to a particular chapter of Nagasaki history. Chinese merchants and residents settled in the port, and those from Fuzhou in Fujian Province wanted a temple of their own. Chaoran, a Chinese monk, built it in 1629 as their family temple. It was a place of worship, and it was also a gathering point for a community living far from home. There is an important consequence behind this. When the Chinese residents of Nagasaki received permission to build their temples, they also received permission to bring over priests and monks from China. That is how the Obaku sect, one of the three Zen sects in Japan alongside Rinzai and Soto, took root, and its origins are tied to Nagasaki. Soufukuji Temple was not alone. Kofukuji was founded earlier, and Nagasaki's Chinese community eventually had four temples. Together they show how deeply the city's identity was shaped by its contact with China.

3. 03

   Soufukuji Temple: Gates and Halls from Across the Sea

   Now look at the buildings, because their journey is part of the story. The red entrance gate is called the Ryugamon, the Gate of the Dragon Palace. Painted a bright red, it is a rare example of South China architecture from the Ming dynasty. Further in is the original entrance, the Dai-ipponmon gate, the Inner Gate. It was built in China in 1644, shipped to Nagasaki, and reassembled at the temple in 1695. The main Buddha Hall followed a similar path. Its pieces were designed and cut in China, shipped across, and erected here in 1646. The Inner Gate and the Buddha Hall are both said to have been made in the Chinese port city of Ningbo, taken apart, and put back together in Nagasaki. This is why visitors often say Soufukuji Temple is one of the best surviving examples of Ming dynasty temple architecture, even when compared with China itself. Think of it as a flat-pack temple, only the pieces were fitted by master carpenters and carried by ship. Higher up the hillside, you may also see the temple bell, which dates to 1647.

4. 04

   Soufukuji Temple: Maso, Goddess of the Sea

   One of the most telling details at Soufukuji Temple is its hall for Maso, the goddess of the sea, known as the Masodo. She is enshrined there, along with other life-sized statues in the main hall. Maso is a Chinese goddess whose worship is rooted in coastal southern China. She was never taken up widely in Japan, but she was very popular with the Chinese mariners who traded into Nagasaki. For sailors who crossed dangerous waters, a protector of the sea was no abstract idea. When you stand before her hall, imagine the voyage that brought these communities here. The temple's imported gates and halls, and the goddess watching over travelers at sea, all speak of the same story: a community that carried its faith, its building traditions and its hopes across the water, and set them down on a Nagasaki hillside.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you finish your visit to Soufukuji Temple, take one more slow look around. Notice the bright red of the Ryugamon, the timbers of the halls that crossed the sea, and the hillside setting that lifts the temple above the city. Soufukuji Temple is one of four Chinese temples in Nagasaki, and each adds something to the story of how the city grew through its ties with China. If you are curious, you might compare how they differ, starting with Kofukuji, the temple often called the first of the four. What else can you find that feels more Chinese than Japanese? A roof line, a color, a carved detail, a statue? Let the temple show you.